Was vs. Is

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just the truth

#75944 Wed, 23 Feb 05 05:24 AM

Do you view CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE, THE NYT MoS, and STRUNK AND WHITE, as being reliable sources?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sandie,

These books have their place but the advice they offer is extremely limited in that it applies to SWE or FWE [standard written English - formal written English]. Trying to get an accurate overview of language and how it works with these focused sources would be, to put it bluntly, a terrible idea.

just the truth

Joined on Mon, Dec 27 2004

Regular Member (849)

Sandie

#79616 Tue, 08 Mar 05 07:50 PM

JTT,

Got it! Thank you again for your perspective! I'm looking forward to reading The Grammar Book.

You may have heard about MSN's serious problems this past week with their hotmail accounts, thus the delay in my reply.

Sandie

Sandie

Joined on Sat, Feb 19 2005

New Member (07)

Grammar

wannabe

#81078 Mon, 14 Mar 05 10:52 AM

Can somebody please tell me exactly what conditional tense is? I am totally confused. Can anybody tell me what the differences in meaning between the two following sentences are as they are so similar I dont know how they differ!!!!

"If I had the money, I'd buy a new car"
"If I have the money, I'll buy a new car"

Thanks

wannabe

Joined on Fri, Mar 11 2005

England

New Member (10)

Conditionals, Tenses

Mister Micawber

#81080 Mon, 14 Mar 05 11:03 AM

Hi Wannabe. Welcome to English Forums.

There is no 'conditional tense'-- 'conditional' is merely a sentence type which usually contains an 'if' clause. In your examples:

"If I had the money, I'd buy a new car" -- here you do not have the money in the present, and see little probability of acquiring sufficient funds in the future.

"If I have the money, I'll buy a new car" -- here you may have the money in the present (you haven't checked your bank balance yet) or there is a reasonable possibility of getting it in the future.

There may be subtle differences of interpretation. Please fasten your seat belt.

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Veteran Member (20,364)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

Clauses, Conditionals, Tenses

wannabe

#81081 Mon, 14 Mar 05 11:15 AM

Thank you so much for your advice. I recieved a valuable reply much quicker than I thought! This seems like a very useful website.

wannabe

Conditionals, Tenses

wannabe

#81085 Mon, 14 Mar 05 11:23 AM

OK.......how about this one? (I have a paper full of these type of questions but untill I understand what they mean and where they are coming from completely than I cannot be sure to put the right answer!)

What is the mistake in the following exchange (I know it is the 's' on the end of information but not quite sure why this is a mistake so therefore cannot write the corrected version)

"I'd like some informations about your courses"
"Certainly, here's our brochure"

Any takes on this? I dont know if this is again, open for different interprutation

Once again, thanks

wannabe